With Kaya gone for the moment, we decided to scour the facility just a little more.
It didn't look like we had much time to spare.
"Hmph... Still, it is surprising that a facility of this scale was constructed back then," Junkhead murmured in admiration, tapping an old Control Unit with his metallic fingertips.
His Mono-eye narrowed slightly as he scanned the surrounding equipment with a lingering gaze.
"They must have had a reason for building it. Some experiment, perhaps... or something else entirely. If only we could determine its past operational status, we might learn something..."
"Then let's just give it a shot."
It was worth a try.
I spoke as I walked up to one of the pods lined up in the room.
"What do you intend to do...?"
Junkhead began to ask, but before he could finish, I placed a hand against the pod’s Outer Shell.
Taking a deep breath, I activated my Repair skill.
Instantly, the building itself began to glow with a faint light.
I felt it through my palm—cables dormant inside the walls began to tremble as if blood were once again rushing through them, and dead circuits sparked back to life, connecting one by one.
Fine cracks on the pod's exterior sealed shut as if pushed from within, and the yellowed transparent panel slowly regained its original clarity.
Overhead, the lighting flared back to life all at once.
An old-fashioned startup chime rang out from speakers near the ceiling.
Consoles along the walls booted up in succession, the old OS Logo and a Status Bar shimmering into existence.
The hiss of compressed air rushing through pipes beneath the floor echoed through the room.
Long-stalled pumps began to groan as they lurched into motion.
A burst of steam like thick smoke erupted for a moment before the Ventilation System immediately began to whir.
I could feel it—the entire sector, which had been dead until a moment ago, was waking up.
"...As usual, that is an absurd ability," Junkhead said, sounding half-exasperated.
Beside him, Lucia stared around the room with her mouth slightly agape.
"I-it’s amazing... Truly, everything is..."
Indicators along the wall turned green one after another as she watched.
I merely shrugged. I was just glad it had worked.
"Don't sweat it. More importantly, does this tell you anything?"
"...Wait a moment. I will check now."
Junkhead eagerly moved to the nearest Main Console.
With every rapid tap of his metallic fingertips, the Hologram Display flickered through data screens.
"Hmm... it seems 'materials' remain on-site. The Protocols are still active. ...I can initiate the process."
No sooner had he spoken than Junkhead typed in a sequence of commands and struck the final key.
Immediately, the lock on the pod in front of me disengaged with a heavy thud.
Rails in the floor groaned to life, and the pod automatically slid forward.
It was ferried to the center of the room—onto a circular Cultivation Stage.
The surrounding machinery began to move in perfect synchronization.
Articulated Arms descended from the ceiling, snapping into the pod's Connection Ports one by one.
A transparent liquid began to flood the interior, gradually filling the tank.
From the Chemical Tanks lined up against the wall, multi-colored liquids flowed through thin tubing.
Red, blue, and amber.
They swirled together inside the pod, creating a strange, shifting gradient in the Cultivation Fluid.
Once the final line was connected, a piece of flesh no larger than a grain of rice dropped from an upper slot.
Inside that transparent world, for one heartbeat—it seemed as if it were simply sinking.
For a single moment.
Then, the scrap of flesh gave a tiny, rhythmic pulse.
It didn't swim or thrash. Instead, something simply began to seep out and expand from that single point.
Crimson lines resembling blood vessels spiderwebbed outward like fine threads, and tissue began to graft onto them.
The shadow of a skeleton, layers of muscle, and bundles of nerves appeared.
They wove together into a human shape at an impossible speed.
Through the murky Cultivation Fluid, a blurry humanoid silhouette emerged.
"...Wait," I muttered under my breath.
I'd had a sneaking suspicion, but I hadn't expected to actually see it.
"Unbelievable..."
Even Junkhead's voice was wavering.
Lucia was speechless, watching with her hands clasped tightly over her chest.
The mass of flesh eventually took on a face.
Eyes, nose, mouth.
The silhouette's features converged into a shape I knew all too well.
I swallowed hard.
Right then—
"...Whoops. So you saw it."
A familiar voice spoke from behind me.
Before I could even turn, Junkhead and Lucia both flinched.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw them both spin around simultaneously.
But I didn't take my eyes off the pod.
"...Kaya. What the hell is this?"
I threw the question out while still keeping my back to her.
Slow footsteps approached from the rear.
Click, clack—a steady, rhythmic tapping against the floor.
"You can tell, can't you? It's a face you've seen plenty of times."
Kaya's voice was unnervingly calm.
If she hadn't already known, she should have been crying out in shock.
Her presence drew one step closer, then two. Other footsteps joined hers.
From the corner of my eye, I could see several shadows lurking near the door.
Crude robes and expressionless faces. A group of Believers.
They were surrounding us, as if to make sure we couldn't escape.
I felt Junkhead back up toward me, subtly shielding Lucia behind his bulk.
The thing floating in the Cultivation Fluid inside the pod was almost complete now.
Its eyes were closed, its face set in a peaceful sleep.
"...Yeah. You’re right. It is a face I’ve seen many times."
Only then did I slowly turn around.
Kaya was standing there.
She looked at me with her usual nonchalance, her silver hair swaying slightly.
But the light in her eyes was cold, like heatless glass beads.
"Yes, that face," Kaya said, gesturing toward the pod with her chin.
I glanced back over my shoulder.
Behind the transparent wall, the thing floating in the fluid made subtle movements that mimicked shallow breathing.
The shape of the eyes, the bridge of the nose, the set of the mouth.
Even the old scars on its body were identical down to the millimeter.
The person floating in there—
Had the exact same face as mine.